January 08, 2016

Emily here. Mom left the door to her office open so I decided I needed to clear up a few things. First of all, I do not always give Olive a hard time. Mom makes it look like I push Olive around and I don't. Well, not as much as you see in this blog. Sometimes Olive gets in the way. What am I supposed to do...wait for her to move? That's like waiting for a tree to get out of the way! Honestly, Olive can be such a pain.

Let me tell you a few facts about Olive. Olive is very needy. Yes, she is. She sometimes sticks so close to me I feel like I have a twin sister or something. I mean, we don't look anything alike; she's small and brown and sad looking, and I'm big and white and gorgeous! (Mom tells me how gorgeous I am, so hey...I have to agree.) Anyway, back to Olive. Olive wants to be wherever I am, all the time. We get to cuddle at night, when Mom and Tom watch TV, and my favorite spot is with Tom. But every night Olive tries to worm her way in...and take over that spot! Sometimes I have to lie down on top of her to get in! And guess what... she doesn't even move! Honestly, she can be such a bully.

Now, about me. Cause I really rule the roost here. I am not a spoiled dog. If I were a spoiled dog, I'd have all the treats I want. I'd have the spot on the bed with Tom with my name on it, and Olive would never be allowed in it. I'd get a long, long walk every day so I could do all my blogging too. We don't do long walks cause Olive can't walk as far as she used to. Something about getting old. Anyway, if I were a spoiled dog Mom and Tom would NEVER work on those computer things. They would pet me and massage me and feed me and walk me and I would be allowed to bark my head off at everyone who goes by, rather than having them say, "Stop! No!" and then closing the curtains so I can't see out. Jeesh!

Plus, they would feed me first (okay, they already do that); they would make sure I get tons of treats - the good kinds, the crunchy kind and the meatball kind - and they would not complain when Olive leaves stuff in her bowl and I eat it. Seriously, she should eat it if she wants it. If she leaves treats or food in her bowl and walks away, that's an invitation for me to step in, don't you think? Olive doesn't mind. Mom is the one who gets all cranky about it. (don't tell her I said that)

I do not make things up. I tell it like it is. Olive here. Emily didn't even want me to speak... and she's sitting here giving me that look, the one that says I will never get in her place on the bed if I tell the truth. But, I will always tell the truth.

If there's a pillow nearby, I'll find it and snooze on it. I love pillows!

Let's talk about the bed. Why should Emily always have the best spot? That spot near Tom is the softest and the warmest. I mean, our Tom is a warm guy. He creates warmth wherever he goes! I know that Emily wants me to snuggle near Mom, and I do, plenty of times. I love snuggling with Mom. She pets my 'little head' and showers me with kisses. But sometimes I just wanna be left alone. So, I get myself over to Tom's side and I push up against Emily. Isn't that what sisters are for?

If we're talking spoiled dogs, it's not me. I mean, sometimes I have accidents in the house (I'm not getting any younger, you know), and Mom and Tom always yell at me. "Oh Olive," they say, "why didn't you go outside when we just put you outside?" And they sigh, as they clean up. Really, do they have to complain so much? It's cold out there. I can't pee out there in the cold!

Another thing, what about the cat? Molly is HUGE! I think she's bigger than me. She scares me. I am not sure of her, at all. It's good that Emily just has to give her a nose tap to send her scurrying to Mom's office where she sleeps in the window. Oh yeah, how come SHE gets to sleep in that comfy window spot where the sun comes in? In the picture here, I am on a pillow in the spare room...this was when we first moved in to the new house. I liked it there. Lots of sun came in there. A few weeks after we moved in, Mom closed the door the spare room so now I have no where to get sun! If anyone is spoiled in this house, it's Molly!

This is a fuzzy picture of Molly sleeping on the window seat. Mom blames the phone camera, but... we know it's just Mom.

Another thing... about my food. I'm a little girl. I don't eat as fast as Emily. It's scary, I know, but Emily gulps her food like a ... wild animal. There, I said it. I'm dainty and I take time with my food. Even my treats. If I leave a little in the bowl, it's because I want to go back later and finish it. I'm so glad Mom keeps and eye out for me.

And walks... why does Emily think I should keep up with her? I have tiny little legs. And I like to snuffle a lot. I mean, blog. I blog a lot. And I leave a lot of comments. Emily just barrels ahead like she's in charge. You should see here - she struts her stuff when we walk! No wonder all the other dogs bark at her. I won't even share what they say, here. I know this is a family blog.

Maybe Emily and I are spoiled a little. Just a little. But, that's cause we're both so cute! I know this cause Mom and Tom say so all the time. Oh yeah!

And there you have it. From the spoiled dogs. Molly, the cat here. Let's just make one thing clear... they are 'spoiled' to keep them quiet. I will share the TRUTH of things in a post of my own, some day. Because... as you all know... I can make them do whatever I want, whenever I want. And yes, I mean Tom, Mom, Emily or Olive.

I am the cat.

Olive getting cozy with Emily... as they wait for Tom.

(p.s. A little note from Mom... see Olive and Emily above, getting cozy on our bed as they wait for Tom. If we spoil them, it's because they are so precious to us. May that never change.)

January 05, 2016

Our Emily has seizures. I've talked about them before. She's a rescue from a research facility which I know nothing about; the agreement between the research facility and the rescue org require the rescues org NOT to reveal what our Emily was used for. If they even know. It's very likely they do not. Other than being told she was a drug study dog, all I know about our sweet girl is that she is high strung, energetic, intelligent to a fault, and full of delight. And, that she has seizures. Is it epilepsy? Or some other brain disorder? Or any number of other issues surrounding the electrical impulses in her brain? I don't know. I do know that there is a mystery here, and it's one that may never be solved.

Two nights ago Tom and I were snuggled all warm in bed, watching the late news, drowsing off... when we heard some unusual noises in the front room. The front room is directly beyond our bedroom. Tom had just turned off the light, I was nearly in dreamland, when this noise shook me awake.

I sighed in the dark. "You better go see what they're up to," I said. While unusual, it was possible the two dogs (Olive, our baby from the puppy mill, who was and still is a fantastic Mom to all...well, her best trait is how she supervises fights - and by that, I mean, tussles. Whenever Emily and Onyx, the 'cousin', play in the house, Olive interprets it as aggression and promptly lets them know it's not acceptable - it's quite comical to see this little Boston Terrier attempt to break up a 'fight' between two dogs twice her size!) were getting into things, like pulling books off the book shelf or randomly kicking their bones around the hardwood floor. Whatever it was, I figured we needed to nip it in the bud, and quickly.

Tom gave a sigh and threw the covers back. He plodded around the bed to the door, likely thinking this would be a quick reprimand, so he could get back to his warm bed soon!

Several minutes went by. Our house is quite small so I expected to hear Tom telling Emily to cut it out - yes, I assumed it was Emily, but only silence met my ears. I listened harder. You know what I mean; I cocked my head, removed the covers so my ears were exposed to the cold, and craned my neck a bit. Only quiet darkness. Hmmm... not sure why everything was suddenly so quiet, I pushed myself up and slipped on my slippers and went out into the front room.

January 04, 2016

When watching a movie, are you more concerned about a dog being harmed than an entire city of humans being wiped off the map?

Have you bailed on a date because you didn't want Twinkles to be home all alone?

Does your dog own a more festive holiday wardrobe than you do?

I admit to the first two, not the last one, so much. But, I have a LOT of friends who dress their dogs up (thinking of you, Carol Bryant and Robbi Hess). Me, well, I tried putting a sweater on Olive once, on an especially cold winter day, and she balked. Emily...might allow it, but we haven't gone that route with her.

The book, Dogotology, is a funny read, full of laughter and foolishness, tinged with a bit of an historical look at the taming of the dog and how dogs fit into today's crazy world.

Let's face it, those of us with dogs can get a little crazy, sometimes. I am at fault of telling Tom Olive is old and little and if she 'accidentally' pees in the house, it's our job to clean it up and not complain. Who's with me? Given the lousy weather here in CO this winter, we're cleaning up a lot of pee...and...more. But, I will not complain because my dear little girl can't help it.

In Dogtology, there is an on-going conversation between dog and God (and an introduction about why God is dog spelled backwards...oh yeah, we've all noticed that, haven't we?) about various things related to dogs' relationship to us, the humans in her life.

In the Book of Barks, God says to dog, "Man loves the sound of his own voice and will especially enjoy talking to you."

"Why?" dog asks.

"Because you don't talk back," God responds. "Man will also put words in your mouth that you're not really thinking, all for his own amusement. Take it from me: Man will write books and make movies full of stuff I supposedly said, and most of it will be purely his own projections. It will be incredibly annoying."

"Sounds it," Dog replies.

"But here's something to remember," God continues, in the good book Dogtology, "Man only puts words in my mouth because he wants to be closer to me... The same is true with you. In fact, the more Man puts words in your mouth, the more you know he loves you."

Honestly, is that not the silliest thing you've ever read? As if.

I took that passage to Emily and asked her what she thought of it and here's what she said, " Mom, you know me so well I would expect you to be able to share my thoughts with the world. Whoever wrote that book was just trying to be funny. Don't worry about it."

And so, I didn't take offense.

The book is full of true insight into how man and dog relate and how we humans would be lost without our dogs. I laughed out loud in many places and...in a couple I turned to Olive and Emily and said, "Ha! He's talking about you here."

The author, Jeff Lazarus, is clearly a dog lover, as are so many of us. He takes his belief that dogs are God's gift to man, a little far in this book, but he does it with humor and a good bit of tongue-in-cheek. I recommend it for a long weekend when you're all comfy in front of a fire and there's little or nothing on TV worth watching. So, this weekend.

Hop over and get a copy and enjoy! And if you're of a mind to, join their online community and become a Dogtology religious fantastic. Or, just someone who loves dogs and wants to hang out with other someone's who like dogs.

This post is not sponsored there may however be links to brands I have worked with in the past, affiliate links, and or links to products I use and love.

I'm so honored!

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